Today's church is not really growing, in fact, it is in a state of decline, and what is happening is just a relocation of the saved from dying churches to ones tuned into the newest thing. We refer to this as The Church Of What's Happening Now! You may even find coffee bars selling lattes and bookstores! They may also be into self-promotion, marketing their ministry on the media and the church may be built upon one personality who has a reputation and this is akin to being a personality cult--especially if the pastor is "in charge" of the one-man show. Many churches are reverting to Catholicism in that the members don't search things out in a Berean style (cf. Acts 17:11), and accept the "authority" of the preacher much like the "cult of death" (i.e., The People's Temple) did to Jim Jones, who was said to speak the Word of God, so that you didn't even need a Bible in church anymore. What happened to the words of Martin Luther: "I dissent, I disagree, I protest?"
Why do you think we have church history to study? But to avoid the same mistakes and to build on the past, and also to keep that which is good (i.e., 1 Thess. 5:21, ESV, says, "[But] test everything, hold fast what is good"). A vibrant, living, and growing church has members who exercise their spiritual gifts and no one is self-sufficient or even thinks they don't need the body. The Reformers said that the church was to be Semper reformanda, or always reforming (there's always room for improvement). Our mindset never should alter from this focus of reformation. We should never think we've arrived, but we are to preserve the better part.
The church has been known to turn a deaf ear to what's going on politically, and the converse, to get overly involved in partisanship. The Bible is not a manual for government reform, but Christians should have a biblical worldview and not any secular one. When you leave God out of the reckoning disaster is sure to follow suit. Remember, the German church turned a deaf ear to Hitler and didn't stick up for rights and morality while they had the chance. The church is the salt and light of the nation and God uses it to dispense His grace. You can say a lot of things about the Roman Catholic Church, but they are more involved in outreach and dispensing mercy and good deeds than any other church. We are not just to minister to the spirit, but to the soul and body as well. Christ has no hands but ours to reach out to a lost world.
In the modern church, we see many who are "holier-than-thou" and have forgotten what it's like to have a relationship with Jesus. The only solution is to get into the Word see themselves for who they are and repent. Yes, repentance is not a one-time event, but progressive and we are to live in a state of repentance, just like we live in a state of faith. Living by faith and walking by faith is the only way to grow in Christ. We must keep our eyes on Jesus and get reacquainted with Him on a personal basis. Even seasoned believers can grow distant and become estranged. That's why we all need the body to give us regular spiritual checkups and to stay in sync with Christ. No one is an island, a lone wolf, a spiritual Lone Ranger, or a rock in God's eyes--we are all members one of another. Remember, one doesn't defect from Christ as a believer, but gradually slips away and before you know it, he's backslidden. As an example, he doesn't rebel against the church, but misses on occasion and gradually comes to the conclusion he can get along without it. "[Not] neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some..." (Heb. 10:25, ESV).
Today's mainstream Protestants are becoming apostates, buying into all the liberal worldview and agenda, even some are known as the Christian left, as opposed to the evangelical right. The evangelicals are soon becoming outnumbered and few truly independent churches exist. It is increasingly difficult to find a vibrant, growing fundamentalist church. Members are transferring from one church to another, and the net effect is zero on the church at large. Christendom is having little impact on the world because the world is having so much effect on the church.
This is where spiritual self-sufficiency or complacency gets a hold on a believer who falls away from fellowship--and this is precisely what Christ wants of us--us--i.e., to have fellowship with us. But we must open the door--Christians are the ones who've opened the door! There are believers who are out of fellowship, living in disobedience, but Jesus loves them and the proof of that is His discipline and rebuke. The verse in Revelation 3:20 primarily refers to unbelievers who need to repent and let Christ reign in their hearts, but it can be applied to believers to help them find the locus of their disillusionment or disenchantment with the church and with Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!
Why do you think we have church history to study? But to avoid the same mistakes and to build on the past, and also to keep that which is good (i.e., 1 Thess. 5:21, ESV, says, "[But] test everything, hold fast what is good"). A vibrant, living, and growing church has members who exercise their spiritual gifts and no one is self-sufficient or even thinks they don't need the body. The Reformers said that the church was to be Semper reformanda, or always reforming (there's always room for improvement). Our mindset never should alter from this focus of reformation. We should never think we've arrived, but we are to preserve the better part.
The church has been known to turn a deaf ear to what's going on politically, and the converse, to get overly involved in partisanship. The Bible is not a manual for government reform, but Christians should have a biblical worldview and not any secular one. When you leave God out of the reckoning disaster is sure to follow suit. Remember, the German church turned a deaf ear to Hitler and didn't stick up for rights and morality while they had the chance. The church is the salt and light of the nation and God uses it to dispense His grace. You can say a lot of things about the Roman Catholic Church, but they are more involved in outreach and dispensing mercy and good deeds than any other church. We are not just to minister to the spirit, but to the soul and body as well. Christ has no hands but ours to reach out to a lost world.
In the modern church, we see many who are "holier-than-thou" and have forgotten what it's like to have a relationship with Jesus. The only solution is to get into the Word see themselves for who they are and repent. Yes, repentance is not a one-time event, but progressive and we are to live in a state of repentance, just like we live in a state of faith. Living by faith and walking by faith is the only way to grow in Christ. We must keep our eyes on Jesus and get reacquainted with Him on a personal basis. Even seasoned believers can grow distant and become estranged. That's why we all need the body to give us regular spiritual checkups and to stay in sync with Christ. No one is an island, a lone wolf, a spiritual Lone Ranger, or a rock in God's eyes--we are all members one of another. Remember, one doesn't defect from Christ as a believer, but gradually slips away and before you know it, he's backslidden. As an example, he doesn't rebel against the church, but misses on occasion and gradually comes to the conclusion he can get along without it. "[Not] neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some..." (Heb. 10:25, ESV).
Today's mainstream Protestants are becoming apostates, buying into all the liberal worldview and agenda, even some are known as the Christian left, as opposed to the evangelical right. The evangelicals are soon becoming outnumbered and few truly independent churches exist. It is increasingly difficult to find a vibrant, growing fundamentalist church. Members are transferring from one church to another, and the net effect is zero on the church at large. Christendom is having little impact on the world because the world is having so much effect on the church.
This is where spiritual self-sufficiency or complacency gets a hold on a believer who falls away from fellowship--and this is precisely what Christ wants of us--us--i.e., to have fellowship with us. But we must open the door--Christians are the ones who've opened the door! There are believers who are out of fellowship, living in disobedience, but Jesus loves them and the proof of that is His discipline and rebuke. The verse in Revelation 3:20 primarily refers to unbelievers who need to repent and let Christ reign in their hearts, but it can be applied to believers to help them find the locus of their disillusionment or disenchantment with the church and with Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!